Psa 16:1-11 “At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore”

Psa 16:1 Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.
Psa 16:2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;
Psa 16:3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
Psa 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
Psa 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
Psa 16:6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
Psa 16:7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
Psa 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Psa 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
Psa 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Psa 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

God’s children are preserved through the fire as explained in type and shadow in Daniel 3:27 and spoken of in our first verse of Psalm 16. This reminds us that it is only possible to put our trust in Him after we’ve been brought to our wits’ end (Psa 107:27-28) having been dragged through the mental and physical anguish which He allows to bring upon us for our good so we can learn to be comfortable in that fire. To be comfortable in the fire is just another way of saying we trust in the living God and have received His peace that passes all understanding.

Dan 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power [Mal 3:6], nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses [1Co 10:13].

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons

1Ti 4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
1Ti 4:11 These things command and teach.

2Co 1:8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
2Co 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead [Php 3:10, Eph 2:6]:
2Co 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Last week’s study can also be found at the homepage of ‘His Branch’ and leads to the link below, which is a good intro into this week’s study entitled “At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore”.
Psalm 15 – Who Among Us Shall Dwell With Everlasting Burnings?

In this week’s study we will look at the blessed relationship God’s people have with our stedfast and loving Saviour who never leaves or forsakes us as He works all things out in our lives. He works God’s Will in Christ’s one body (the head operates the body) fulfilling a glorious purpose that we are promised will culminate in the finishing of our faith. Our hope is in this process of salvation to which we’ve been called, going on to a perfection that He has purposed for our sakes so we can then bring the rest of creation to see and understand, along with us, that “At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.“

Deu 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Psa 16:1 Michtam of David. Preserve^H8104 me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

The positive side of a hedge in our life can be seen with the word “preserve”^H8104. The first three entries of this word in the book of Genesis reveal something very important about how God calls us into a relationship of helping “preserve” each other through the fire, as we bless each other at the right hand of God with those things which God accomplishes through the body of Christ (Col 1:27). God’s right hand is in fact the life of Christ in us, our hope of glory, our hope of being able to bear each other’s burden and “preserving” each other as the salt of the world should do (Gal 6:2, Mat 5:13).

H8104 ש†מׁר†shamar†shaw-mar’

A primitive root; properly tohedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect,attend to, etc.: – beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).

The goal of our existence is explained right from Genesis 2:15 to be fruitful and multiply by being able “to dress it and to keep it”, which is what happens when we “replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” of Genesis 1:28. All these nephesh-breathing beasts that we gain dominion over represent the process of driving beasts out of the land of our lives within through Christ’s strong hand which gives us the victory little by little (Exo 23:30).

This preserving symbolizes our love for each other and for humanity, along with our strong desire to be involved in the process of preserving that which God has given us to care for – each other. We learn from this parable in Luke chapter 20 that in order to become one with Christ and our Father, we need to first see ourselves as being the ones who rejected the servants to the husbandmand, all the prophets from Abel to Zacharias, including Christ as this parable tells us in verse 14 (Luk 20:9-18, Mat 23:35).

As we mentioned in last week’s study, the very first ‘seeking of an occasion against the flesh of mankind’ that God purposed was when Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden by the serpent (Gen 3:1-24) and was an occasion against the flesh of mankind that was predestined to happen just as surely as God’s people were foreknown and “predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:28-30, Jas 1:18).

So these three verses from the book of Genesis are very telling when we look at this word ‘keep’ which is the word ‘preserve’ – H8104:

Gen 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep^H8104 it.

Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep^H8104 the way of the tree of life.

Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper^H8104?

We’re told “to keep^H8104 the way of the tree of life”, which is the same as saying “dress it and keep^H8104 it”, and we fail miserably at keeping the garden and are driven out by God. Only after we come to see that we can’t keep that which is entrusted to us, only after we waste our inheritance, do we then in God’s perfect timing come to our senses and little by little become our brother’s keeper^H8104, which Cain in us has no desire to be. We also become those who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book by the grace and faith of Christ because “the time is at hand” (Rev 1:3).

Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

If we are going to be preserved in this age, we have to be brought to acknowledge that we are guilty of all the blood of the prophets (Mat 23:36) and that judgment is upon us (1Pe 4:17) as we enter back into a right relationship with our Father and Christ by entering into the garden once again but this time through the fiery sword which is used to keep^H8104 the way of the tree of life.

Psa 16:2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;
Psa 16:3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

There is ‘no good within us’ is one way of looking at this verse, and it is “the saints in the earth” who are our delight because of Christ in us who reflects God’s goodness. We delight in the knowledge that God gives us to share and grow together even as we see God engraving on our hearts a new poem, a new creation, which is new because of Christ doing this excellent/mighty^H117 work (Psa 93:4) in the earth “Michtam^H4387 of David”.

Luk 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

Psa 93:4 The LORD on high is mightier^H117 than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty^H117 waves of the sea.

“Michtam” H4387 מכת†םּ†miktam†mik-tawm’

From H3799; an engraving, that is, (technically) a poem: – Michtam.

Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

In the final analysis, the flesh and blood heart (symbolic of our own works, our own ‘engravings’ Mat 7:22) will not inherit the kingdom of God; but the spiritual fruit that is borne out of the mind of Christ that is being formed within Christ’s body is the new heart and mind that the world will come to see as “the excellent, in whom is all my delight” (Psa 16:3).

Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Psa 16:4 Their sorrows^H6094 shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

There is a connection with the thought that our “sorrows”^H6094 or the “idols” or “wounds” of our heart must be initially engraved there, like the mark of the beast or Cain’s mark (Gen 4:15, Rev 13:18).

“sorrows”: H6094 עצבת†‛atstsebeth†ats-tseh’-beth
From H6087; an idol; also a pain or wound: – sorrow, wound.

Jer 2:22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap,yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.

Whenever we come to acknowledge this mark, it is very hard on us and debilitating (Gen 4:13) because we don’t initially see it as being the needful and necessary first step of going from darkness to light that God will eventually require of every generation from Abel to Zechariah .

It is only after we are given to see and to acknowledge that only God can be greater than our conscience and cleanse us from all these “offerings of blood” or works in our flesh that we won’t “take up their names into my lips” (1Jn 3:20).

We are not of this world, we don’t take up Paul or Apollos “into my lips”, not even Christ who we don’t know after the flesh (1Co 3:4, 2Co 5:16). Rather, we acknowledge the purpose behind the increase that God gives to the body of Christ as something that is solely unfolding for the edification of the whole body and that this drink offering is pure and peaceable and comes down from heaven, meaning from hearts that are being changed, that are new and have the earnest of the spirit of God now, which makes it possible for us to care for one another in the spirit.

Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

2Co 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Psa 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

If we are Christ’s, then we are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. The literal meaning of heir is “someone who has been appointed to receive an inheritance” (https://www.gotquestions.org/heir-Bible.html).

This subject of an heir in the bible has always been a touchy one with the flesh of men, because someone is and someone is not, and that just does not sound good to the flesh of man (Joh 8:37-41, Mat 22:14).

The lesson that is hidden from everyone who wants their inheritance in the earth is that when our hearts are set on physical inheritance, or the riches of this world, then that’s where God has our hearts, and we will ‘find our life’ at the expense of receiving the greatest possible reward by ‘losing our life’ (Mat 5:12, Mar 10:30).

If we understand that we are Christ’s inheritance, even right now in the spirit, we will be wanting to lay up treasure in heaven and not build bigger barns or be striving for acquisition in this world (Mat 6:19-20, Luk 12:15). And if we happen to have such wealth, of which also comes as a gift from God, we will with the mind of Christ be of one accord. We are the saints, written from the beginning, taking care of our body (Act 2:44-46, Eph 5:29).

When the scripture says “thou maintainest my lot”, we know now that God does this through the saints and via the miracles that He allows to happen in each of our lives, so that we know that His love for us is stedfast.

And it must be noted that the “cup” of verse 5 comes after “their drink” of verse 4 for good reason. We do “drink the cup”, and we are maintained and preserved through the strengthening we receive from each other, in all admonition, encouragement, prayer and deed. That is “my lot” that we share (1Co 10:16).

1Co 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

These verses cited above show clearly that our communion is the blood and body of Christ.

1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Psa 16:6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasantplaces; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

There is only one truly “goodly heritage”, and it is obtained and understood as being primarily a spiritual inheritance in Christ, in His body, in the church, in His flesh and bones. Verse 31 of chapter 10 of Mark explains to us what this inheritance is all about and how it is being formed in our hearts today even as we help each other endure until the end, even through the persecutions (2Ti 3:12) and all that God has called us to endure until the end.

Mar 10:29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
Mar 10:30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Mar 10:31 But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Psa 16:7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

The counsel that God gives us is so precious, and is in perfect and due season, as we have seen over and over in the body of Christ. It is God revealing His sovereignty and singleness of mind that is being formed within the body of Christ.

He will accomplish that which he has started in us through Christ, and He tells us to be confident of this very thing. He even instructs us in the night seasons. Can anyone resist God as He works with us in the day and in the night, with the light and with the dark, which are the same unto him?

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb [the church Jerusalem above – Gal 4:26].

Psa 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

If Christ is at our right hand, then he is set before us, and nothing will separate us from the love of God. God’s elect are granted the grace and the faith that we need to not forsake the assembling of the body of Christ because that is our spiritual womb and the place where He has covered us, and is maturing us so that we can grow unto maturity and one day be used to judge all those books of men and angels whose works proceeded forth from dead men (Heb 10:25, Mal 3:16, Rev 20:12, 1Co 6:2-3, Mat 7:22).

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psa 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest^H7931 in hope.
Psa 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

We are that holy seed, and part of that Holy One, Jesus Christ. We have every reason to rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice: two times mentioned as a witness that we rejoice because of the certain hope that we have within us and just read about in Romans 8:31-39.

He does not let our souls stay in the earth even today, because we are baptized into His death and raised into heavenly places where our flesh, yes, even our flesh in troublesome times can “rest in hope”; in a hope that is not seen but is within nevertheless.

Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

That “rest”^H7931 which most assuredly is our “hope” and refuge and safety is better translated “dwell” or “abide”. That is the promise which is given to us who read hear and keep all these things (Rev 1:3).

H7931 ש†כׁן†shakan shaw-kan’
A primitive root (apparently akin (by transmutation) to H7901 through the idea of lodging; compare H5531 and H7925); to reside or permanently stay (literally or figuratively): – abide, continue, (cause to, make to) dwell (-er), have habitation, inhabit, lay, place, (cause to) remain, rest, set (up).
Total KJV Occurrences: 128: dwell, 69 dwelt, 11 dwelleth, 9 abode, 6 dwellest, 3 abide, 1 abiding, 1 …etc

Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

Psa 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Psa 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

If ever there was a verse in the bible that should make us smile and rejoice, it’s this one.

God tells us he is going to show us the path of life, Jesus Christ, and when we see Christ in each other, we are learning to see that “fullness of joy”, an hundredfold inheritance which is Christ in each of us.

Being able to share this life of Christ today, and knowing that our names are written in heaven and that there is a continual path of joy and peace that we do now and will forever share together, is just another way of saying “at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Part 3 – verses 13 to 20

In the first verse of our Psalm in this study, we will see that God tells us how we ought to go into His temple, into fellowship with one another, as He declares that it is with “burnt offering[s]”. In other words, it is through our collective trials and becoming comfortable in the fire together that we come to know our Lord and become purified as one body (Dan 3:22-27).

Many stories in God’s word describe this process of purification, but this particular one in Daniel is one of the most loud and dynamic parables of how God is both able to and continually is going about perfecting His saints through fiery trials via a process of judgment by which we are saved, even at the expense of people being put in very uncomfortable positions, and in many instances life and death scenarios for our sakes (2Co 4:15, 2Ti 3:16).

Dan 3:22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

These verses below express the fruit of our fellowship, the sweetness that comes about as a result of going through the exercise of being in the fire and becoming comfortable within it (Isa 33:13-16). If we are not given to acknowledge our need to be in the fire, then it is akin to saying that we say we see and our sins will remain (Joh 9:41). If we are given to repent and acknowledge our need to die daily, then we can continue to say that we have a hope within (Col 1:27) that is purifying us (1Jn 3:3, 1Jn 1:8). The glory of this mystery among the Gentiles within us is to go from glory to glory through a process where we are blessed to continue to endure through the trials that change us and bring us to a point of being comfortable in the fire right unto perfection on the third day (2Co 3:18, Luk 13:32).

It may seem obvious now, but I remember reading these verses in particular and not seeing myself as the one who was “far off” or the sinner in Zion who was afraid, and it truly is only after God shows us that ‘we are the ones’ in fearful hypocritical flesh that we can begin to do the work that our Lord alone is going to accomplish in all those who He is making comfortable in the fire in this age (Php 2:13).

Cause

Isa 33:13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
Isa 33:16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

Effect

Psa 133:1 A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psa 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

Pro 27:9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt G2585 the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

The opposite of speaking in Christ by the power of God is to do what our flesh naturally does in the court to make merchandise of our brethren, to be respecters of persons (Rev 22:9), and to idolize the flesh of men, which is all we can do until God burns this spirit out of us which naturally corrupts God’s word. It takes the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth which is found in those who have been blessed to be in the process of being unleavened by the life of Christ working in us in this age (1Co 5:8-9).

1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1Co 5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

corrupt G2585

– Original: κu945 πu951 λu949 υu769 ωpar – Transliteration: Kapeleuo
– Phonetic: kap-ale-yoo’-o
– Definition:
1. to be a retailer, to peddle
2. to make money by selling anything
a. to get sordid gain by dealing in anything, to do a thing for base gain
b. to trade in the word of God
1. to try to get base gain by teaching divine truth
c. to corrupt, to adulterate
1. peddlers were in the habit of adulterating their commodities for the sake of gain
– Origin: from kapelos (a huckster)
– TDNT entry: 13:03,4
– Part(s) of speech: Verb

– Strong’s: From κu945 ́u960 ηu955 οu962 kapēos (a huckster); to retail that is (by implication) to adulterate (figuratively): – corrupt.
Total KJV Occurrences: 1
•corrupt, 1
2Co 2:17

In order for the word of God to no longer be corrupt (G2585) in our hearts and in our mouth, we must go through this process discussed above, through the purifying that comes as a result of being able to lose our life so that we might find it (Mat 16:25, Joh 12:24). These following verses show us that this is God’s grace and favour and mercy that He bestows upon a few in this age to actually have hearts that are being purified unto conversion and not inclined unto evil.

It is in asking God to purify us of the weakness and sin we see in ourselves that we are blessed, if He hears us and proceeds to purify us by the chastening and scourging where needed and gives us the ability to lay aside the weight of sin and know that we are forgiven and anointed by His hand. The prayers of the saints lead us to become “the whole ram upon the altar”, “a burnt offering unto the Lord”, and these verses below describe that process very well.

Psa 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Psa 141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
Psa 141:4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

Exo 29:18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Deu 12:27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

Rev 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Psa 66:13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Psa 66:14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
Psa 66:15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.

These verses remind us that it is upon a burnt offering (Lev 1:4) that our vows are paid and fulfilled, as we saw so clearly demonstrated through the email string of late in regards to being salted with fire, which we know that every sacrifice must be, in order to be accepted of the Lord (Mar 9:49, Heb 12:6).

Our lips utter “my vows” to God that declare we are a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) and He comes at times of duress “when I was in trouble” (Job 5:7). God holds us up through the fiery experience so that our sacrifice is accepted before our Father through Christ (Eph 1:6) who is represented by the fatlings, the rams, the bullocks and the goats of verse 15.

Psa 66:16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
Psa 66:17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.

What God has done for our soul is what we have been discussing all along. He has been purifying it through the fire of His word which must be tried and tested in this age if we are going to be able to reveal Christ to the world as Christ presented the Father to the world (Joh 5:43, Mat 11:27, Joh 6:38, 2Ti 2:12).

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Psa 66:19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psa 66:20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

A reprobate heart, as we have discussed in the past, is an unbelieving and faithless heart (2Co 13:5-6, Rom 14:23), and when we are in this state of mind, God tells us plainly that such prayers are not heard because of their faithless nature (Jas 1:7). Our prayer is that God will keep us from this spirit of unbelief which was given to the Israelites in the wilderness for our admonition (Heb 3:7-13).

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2Co 13:6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

We can’t help it when we don’t have faith or are given over to a reprobate mind (2Co 4:4, Rom 1:28), but God does bring the elect to cry out and ask for help in our unbelief if we are his, and he delivers us by the saving grace and faith (Eph 2:8) that come from Him alone and is manifested through the body of Christ that “exhort one another daily, while it is called To day” (Heb 11:6, Mar 9:24).

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

When God does not turn away from our prayer, we are experiencing His mercy (Rom 11:16) in this age, which acts upon those fervent and continual prayers which God grants the elect to abide in to His glory (Joh 8:31-33, Psa 119:133).

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Hi Mike,

Can one know that they are one of the elect (the few chosen) or is God the only one who knows. Thanks.

Yours in Christ,

T____

Hi T____,
You ask:

Can one know that they are one of the elect (the few chosen) or is God the only one who knows?

The short answer is, no, no one knows in advance whether God has placed any one of us in that blessed group. We must each “endure to the end” before we are saved.
At the same time, God’s elect are confident of their election and are willing to claim that position. Those who cannot make that claim, and who say we cannot know the Truth will be judged out of their own mouth, saying they do not know the Truth, which Truth is Christ.

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Here are few scriptures which make this clear:

1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring [ it] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul, inspired of the holy spirit, did not take it for granted that he could not “be a castaway,” he “hoped” to be saved, and he did not consider himself to have yet “attained.”
Here are Christ’s own words concerning how this works:

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

All those who teach that once we are saved we will always be saved, are right, only if they understand that having been saved is a matter of having endured to the end of our time in these “clay vessels” we call our physical bodies, and that is exactly what is not believed by those who promote that doctrine.
Now, here is another verse that makes this clear:

Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

That is the only Biblical ‘fall of man’ mentioned in the scriptures. Adam was never under grace because the age of grace began with the death and resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ. Adam was dust from the start. He was “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin… a vessel made of clay, marred in the Potter’s hand,” with nowhere to go but up. Adam’s sin, like the sin of us all, is the consequence of being “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin… in the hand of the Potter.” So the message of Gal 5:4 is that being God’s elect entails being faithful to Christ and His doctrine “to the end,” or you can indeed, “fall from grace.”

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

There are three things needed for any of us to know for certain that we have actually been selected to be one of God’s very elect. Here are those three prerequisites. They are listed in order:

Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

There they are 1) “called, 2) chosen and 3) faithful… to the end.” Since the end comes only with our last breath, it is incumbent upon us all never to take our calling for granted. Christ was so adamant about this point that He gave us this parable:

Luk 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luk 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luk 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Luk 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, [ and] be merry.
Luk 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

“Laying up treasure” for oneself is self confidence and self confidence is failing to give God the credit for our faith, which ‘faith’ is “the faith of Christ” and not of ourselves.

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that [ faith] not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Having acknowledged that even our faith is of God and not of ourselves and that we must not only be called and chosen, but we must also be “faithful… and endure to the end,” we must conclude that it is only at the end of our walk, and in any absolute manner, only after the resurrection, that we know for certain that we are God’s “very elect.”
All I can do is quote you scripture, and the scriptures reveal that while God’s elect never display a cocky, self assured attitude, yet they certainly did display a total confidence in God’s ability to finish the work He had begun in His elect.

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

God’s elect are not fearful or timid about confessing that they know Him and His Word. That Word reveals that God’s elect certainly did consider themselves to be His elect. Here are Christ’s words concerning His elect:

Joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Joh 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that o f all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 

“I will in no wise cast out all that the Father gives me.” Again, these are general statements which support the sovereignty of God, but do not give anyone any reason to take their own salvation for granted. But does the fact that we are never to take our standing with Christ for granted mean that we cannot, or should not claim to be God’s elect? Well, if the example of Christ’s apostles means anything at all, and if the scriptures are our example, then the answer to that question is a resounding, no, it does not at all mean that!
It is true that we have been born of God already in what the scriptures refer to as “in earnest.”

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also [ trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

“ We… who first trusted in Christ… you also trusted…” Who will be “to the praise of His glory?” It will be those who trust in Christ, and not in themselves. But the apostle Paul considered himself among those who “first trusted in Christ,” and he also considered those to whom he is writing to be “those who first trusted in Christ.” Does that mean that all who ever read those words are therefore God’s elect? Of course not. Only those who “trust in Christ” and are faithful to the end, will be to the praise of His glory in that “blessed and holy first resurrection.” ninety- nine out of one hundred Christians do not trust in the faith of Christ. They truly believe their salvation is in their own hands, and they and their own faith are the final words in whether they choose to obey God. They are not willing to concede that their choice is a choice caused by their Maker who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will,” which is exactly what the preceding verse tells us.

Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

There again is that pronoun ‘we.’ “In whom we have obtained an inheritance according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will,” in no way whatever contradicts the fact that “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
Paul tells us “We are sealed with the holy spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
“The redemption of the purchased possession” is the first resurrection. Only then will we know for certain who God’s elect are. Nevertheless, anyone who is not willing to stand for the truth and who will not even claim to “know the Truth” is doing nothing less than denying that they know Christ, who tells us that He “ is the Truth,” and who tells us “You shall know the Truth,” and knowing that Truth “is eternal life.”

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.   

All who “Know the Truth” will accept nothing less than the Truth, and “the doctrine of Jesus Christ” will not be compromised by heresies:

2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

How few Christians believe and live by that doctrine!

Can we know we are God’s elect? We have seen that “the manifestation of the Sons of God,” where all doubt is removed about who is and who is not Christ’s very elect, requires that we “endure to the end.”

Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected [ the same] in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only [ they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [ to wit], the redemption of our body.

Only then will the resurrection from among the dead remove all doubt. In the mean time only those who are willing to acknowledge that they “know God and Christ” “have eternal life.”

1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [ his] brother abideth in death.

How do we know we “love the brethren?”

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

“Eternal life is know God and Christ” and ‘knowing God and Christ’ is to “love the children of God,” and ‘loving the children of God’ is obeying God and obeying the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
I will close with a few words from Christ’s last recorded conversation with His father. This is part of his prayer the night before being nailed to the cross. Truly knowing any person is the ability to think as that person thinks. If we think as Christ thought, then we, like Him, do not hesitate to acknowledge that we “ know the Truth.”

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sen t.

I hope this all helps you to see that we can indeed, “know the Truth” and “know that we have passed from death unto life,” and at the same time we must “endure to the end” before we experience “The manifestation of the sons of God.”
Salvation requires faith in the words of God, and faith is confidence in thing that are not seen.

Heb 11:1 And faith is of things hoped for a confidenc e, of matters not seen a conviction,
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

That ‘faith,’ as we saw above, is a gift of God and is “the faith of Jesus Christ.”
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Sir:

I have some questions concerning some of the articles I have read about salvation. It seems to me that true salvation is obtained when we have endured until the end. What does “endure to the end mean”? What about those who call on the name of Jesus; are they saved? I understand that faith without works is no faith at all. What does it mean to be saved? How does one know if they are saved after asking Jesus to be saved? Is being forgiven associated with being saved or vice versa? What hope and assurance does one have when they ask Christ to save them?

Thanks for your help. D____

Hi D____,

Thank you for your questions.

You ask, “What does ‘endure to the end’ mean?” It means to remain faithful to all of the Words of Christ and to never deny any part of His doctrine until the end of this life in this “vessel of clay.”

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Salvation is an ongoing process. It must be “worked out” in each of us by “dying daily” until our dying is over.

1Co 15:31 (b) … I die daily.

To say, “I was saved at such and such a time” is to deny Matthew 22:14 – “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.”

You ask:

What about those who call on the name of Jesus; are they saved?

I think we have just answered that question. No, they are not saved, but rather they are being saved and if they “endure to the end they shall be saved.”

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Again, there are many Christians who call Christ Lord but who hate His doctrines:

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

You ask:

What does it mean to be saved?

Again, you must remember that Christ never tells His disciples that they are saved. Christ always told any who came to Him that in Him they were “being saved” and that if they “endured to the end [they] shall be saved.” Here is Paul’s assessment of where we are in Christ while yet in these vessels of clay:

Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

“I count not myself to have apprehended…” means that Paul did not consider himself as having been saved but as being saved. Paul speaks of those being saved and of those who “are perishing.”

When the disciples thought their boat was going under the waves they awoke Christ and told him:

Mat 8:25 And, approaching, they rouse Him, saying, “Lord! Save us! We are perishing!” (CLV)

This is the same Greek word ‘apollumi‘ which is translated ‘are perishing’ in this verse:

2Co 2:15 for we are a fragrance of Christ to God, in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing:” (CLV)

Our Babylonian training has us hating the mind of God which does not take us into His confidence to the extent of letting us know beyond any possible doubt that we are indeed God’s elect. We are God’s elect if we are bringing forth the fruit of His spirit. When we cease to do so, then rest assured we will all “reap what we sow.”

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

You ask: “How does one know if they are saved after asking Jesus to be saved?”

Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

There is Christ’s answer to your question about others being saved and about you yourself being saved. You know if you are being saved by your fruits. If you have been changed from within, then Christ is effectuating that change. If there is no change, then the fruits speak for themselves. You don’t “know them” by their doctrines. You don’t “know them” by their gifts of the spirit. “By their fruits you shall know them.” That is the litmus test. Now it so happens that “the doctrine of Christ” is part of those fruits, because “you cannot say you love God whom you have not seen if you love not your brother whom you have seen.”

1Jn 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

1Co 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an [spiritual] harlot? God forbid.

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

As I have pointed out so many times, there is the difference between life and death in being a disciple of Christ and being a “disciple indeed.” The difference is in “continuing in My Word.”

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

You ask:

What about those who call on the name of Jesus, are they saved?

Jesus and Paul and James and Peter and Jude and John, one and all reply in unison with our Lord:

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

In closing I will quote the apostle Paul who was writing under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit when he made this statement:

Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20 Well because of unbelief they were broken off , and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

“You also shall be cut off” is not meant to keep us in constant fear. It is intended to keep us in constant vigilance. Contrary to what you hear in Babylon, there is no contradiction whatsoever between being “confident that he who has begun a good work in you is able to finish it” and being constantly vigilant:

1Ti 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

You ask:

What hope and assurance does one have when they ask Christ to save them?

Here is the only scriptural answer you will find in God’s Word. There simply is no way around the need for faith and hope:

Php 1:6 Being confident [Greek: peithō – trusting, persuaded] of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

“The day of Jesus Christ” is, was and will be being fulfilled in the lives of God’s elect until we are separated from this vessel of clay. This is the part of God’s Word that is so hard for the natural man to comprehend.

You ask:

“What does it mean to be saved?”

Nowhere is scripture are we told that anyone other than Christ IS saved. To rephrase your question in a scriptural context, what is meant by “being saved” is that you are being given a new life. It will by design require time, and you will learn to “continue in” and “abide in the doctrine of Christ,” but you will be strengthened to have “dominion over sin” in your life. You are being saved from sin and death. That is what it means to be saved:

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God.

There are those who “fear that I will soon be saying that the resurrection is already past.” Well, since it was the apostle Paul who made the assertion that we are yet to be resurrected, I will just pour some fuel on the fire of my detractors by also agreeing with the apostle Paul that we should all “yield ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” So the life of a resurrected saint is begun now while yet in this vessel of clay. This vessel of clay cannot inherit the kingdom of God and must be disposed of. For those blessed and holy few who endure to the end, there will be a resurrection to a spiritual body which will be capable of materializing as “flesh and bone” and will be given power over the nations and will be commissioned to “rule the nations with a rod of iron and crush them as a potters vessel.”

I hope this is all of some help to you and has answered your questions. You are so right, “True salvation is obtained when we have endured to the end.”

Mike

Hi Mike,

Please clear up this confusion for me. It seems to me that Col 1:23 (If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel…) makes this condition for us being reconciled to Christ. When I read verse 23 of Col. 1, the ‘if’ seems to cast doubt on the support of other scriptures for universalism. I hope you can clarify this for me.

Thanks,

V____

Hi V___,

You say ‘when I read verse 23 of Col. 1, the ‘if’ seems to cast doubt on the support of other scriptures for universalism.’

You are right, the word ‘if’ is there. And the Holy Spirit inspired it to be there “for our edification.”

Universal reconciliation is an ultimate truth, but it is nowhere guaranteed for this aion just because Christ calls us. The opposite is true for this age; “many are called but few chosen” (Mat 22:14). It is only those who “continue (there’s that word you used in your post) in my word” that become “my disciples indeed” (Joh 8:31).

Understanding the doctrine of grace (or any doctrine) is only for those who “Do His will”.

Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or [whether] I speak of myself.

What sometimes comes up missing in the teaching of the doctrine of universal reconciliation is “knowing (understanding) the doctrine” (Joh 7:17) of grace.

That understanding is imparted to us in Tit 2:11 and 12: “Grace teaches [paideuo, Strong’s #3811] us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts.”

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

That word ‘teach’ is not strong enough to convey how God deals with those who continue in “ungodliness and worldly lust.” This is the same word used in Heb 12:6:

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

It is the same word in 1Co 11:32: “When we are judged, we are chastened [paideuo] of the Lord…”

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Judgment day for all is a time of “chastening” and discipline, not eternal torment. Chastening is for the purpose of perfecting. This is in line with the concept of a firm, loving father.

In fact, the “virgin” bride of Christ (2Co 11:2) is in her “judgment day” now.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

According to Paul, we are the “house of God” (1Ti 3:15). We are the bride (2Co 11:2), the circumcision (Php 3:3 and Rom 2:27), we are Jews (Rom 2:28-29), and we are Israel (Eph 2:11 and 19 and Gal 6:15-16), and chastening from God is for us now.

If in this process, we do not “continue in my word” (Joh 8:31), we can “fall from grace” (Gal 5:4) for this age. “The law” mentioned here in Gal 5:4 represents our works, good or bad. “Works of the law” means we give ourselves the credit for them instead of realizing that “we are HIS workmanship created unto GOOD WORKS which He hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10).

And what happens if we don’t continue to walk in them? ” Where sin abounds, grace (discipline, chastening – Tit 2:11, 12) did much more abound” (Rom 5:20). But the chastening of grace is not guaranteed to be in this aion.

Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if [ there’s that little word again] thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

But notice what happens eventually to those on whom the severity falls:

Rom 11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.

The ‘if’ here is simply a matter of timing; “every man in his own order” (1Co 15:23) for God is able to graft them in again.” (Rom 11:23)

Yours in his chastening grace,

Mike